NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Pension Fund Trustees Release 2024 Shareholder Initiatives Postseason Report

NYC Comptroller Brad Lander and Pension Fund Trustees Release 2024 Shareholder Initiatives Postseason Report

New York, NY - Today, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and trustees of the five New York City retirement systems released the annual Shareholder Initiatives Postseason Report for the 2024 proxy voting season, ending on June 30, 2024. The report details the Office of the New York City Comptroller's efforts to promote sound and responsible corporate governance practices at publicly traded portfolio companies on behalf of the Systems.

This year's report comes amid the continued conservative backlash against the use of environment, social, and governance (ESG) factors in making investment decisions. Despite the messaging that using ESG hinders financial performance, strong results from the New York City retirement systems of net 10.0% for fiscal year 2024 prove that managing ESG risks, like any other financial risk, is critical to investment portfolio performance.

"Despite the challenging environment posed by misguided efforts to undermine investor freedom to consider ESG risks as part of their portfolio management, shareholder demand for transparency and accountability remains unwavering," said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. "In the face of these unprecedented attacks I am proud of the work my office has done on behalf of the five New York City pension funds to urge companies to implement sustainable business practices. Ignoring obligations to implement important safeguards jeopardizes their long-term value and reputation."

This proxy season, the Systems achieved major wins on climate, efforts to protect workers during organizing efforts, and workplace safety. The Systems also reached agreements on 50% of submitted proposals after engagement and dialogue with portfolio companies, averting the need for a formal vote at the annual general meeting for each company. On behalf of the Systems, the Comptroller's Office also led high-profile "vote no" campaigns to challenge problematic directors and corporate practices, including governance and compensation failures at Tesla and conflicts of interest at BlackRock.

The Comptroller's Office reached historic agreements this season with three of the largest North American banks (Citi, JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Canada) to publicly disclose their financing ratio of low-carbon energy to fossil fuels. This is a critical step forward in establishing a new climate disclosure metric in the banking sector that equips investors with another valuable tool to better assess the role banks play in the climate transition.

The Office also continued engagement on behalf of the New York City Employees' Retirement System, Teachers' Retirement System, and Board of Education Retirement System with more than 100 of their highest-emitting portfolio companies, urging them to set independently validated, science-based GHG reduction targets.

The Comptroller's Office also continued industry-leading engagement efforts with companies on freedom of association protections. Following years of sustained investor engagement with major coffee chain Starbucks, including a majority shareholder vote in favor of a third-party assessment of the company's alignment with its human rights commitments to freedom of association and bargain collectively, Starbucks took significant steps toward collaborative relationships with its workforce. Over 10,000 Starbucks workers have unionized with discussions underway for a collective bargaining agreement.

The Systems also reached agreements with major telecommunications companies (SBA Communications, American Tower, and Crown Castle) that committed to enhanced disclosures on worker safety practices at their tower sites, with a focus on including information on contractors and subcontractors.

In light of the Systems' concerns regarding the impact of artificial intelligence, the Comptroller's Office engaged with entertainment and credit reporting companies on promoting ethical A.I. use across industries to safeguard workers, consumers, and the public. Agreements were reached with Comcast, Disney, and credit reporting company TransUnion. The Systems' proposal at Netflix went to a vote and received a strong 43% of support.

During fiscal year 2024, the Comptroller's Office, on behalf of the Systems, submitted shareholder proposals to 30 portfolio companies and voted on 16,804 shareholder meetings in 73 markets globally. This includes 3,056 annual and special meetings for U.S. companies. In addition, the Systems voted for a majority of shareholder proposals, with shareholder proposals on executive compensation and those related to directors receiving the highest voting support.

Proxy voting decisions for each of the Systems can be viewed here, and are available within 24 to 48 hours of electronic votes being submitted. To learn more about the corporate governance and shareholder efforts of the Systems, read the full annual postseason report.

About the New York City Retirement Systems
The New York City retirement systems, comprise the City's five public pension funds (the New York City Employees' Retirement System, Teachers' Retirement System, Police Pension Fund, Fire Pension Fund and Board of Education Retirement System), and, collectively, are the third largest pension system in the nation, valued at approximately $274.38 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2024.

In addition to Comptroller Lander, trustees of the New York City retirement systems are as follows:

In addition to Comptroller Lander, the trustees of the aforementioned systems are as follows:

New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS): Mayor Eric Adams' Appointee Bryan Berge, Director, Mayor's Office of Pension and Investments; New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; Borough Presidents: Mark Levine (Manhattan), Donovan Richards Jr. (Queens), Vito Fossella (Staten Island), and Vanessa L. Gibson (Bronx); Henry Garrido, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Richard Davis, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York (TRS): Mayor Eric Adams' Appointee Bryan Berge, Director, Mayor's Office of Pension and Investments; Chancellor's Representative, Greg Faulkner, New York City Public Schools Panel for Educational Policy; and Thomas Brown (Chair), Victoria Lee, and Christina McGrath, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

New York City Fire Pension Fund (Fire): Mayor Eric Adams' Representative Bryan Berge, Director, Mayor's Office of Pension and Investments; New York City Fire Commissioner Robert S. Tucker (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack; Andrew Ansbro, President, Robert Eustace, Vice President, Chris Viola, Treasurer, and Eric Bischoff, Staten Island Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Sean Michael, Chiefs' Rep., Joe Camastro, Lieutenants' Rep. and Liam Guilfoyle, (Chair), Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and Peter Devita, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund (Police): Mayor Eric Adams' Representative Bryan Berge, Director, Mayor's Office of Pension and Investments; New York City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblack; New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch (Chair); Chris Monahan, Captains Endowment Association; Louis Turco, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; Vincent Vallelong, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Scott Munro, Detectives Endowment Association; and Patrick Hendry, Daniel Terrelli, Albert Alcierno and Arthur Egner all of the NYC Police Benevolent Association.

Board of Education Retirement System of the City of New York (BERS): New York City Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, Represented by Karine Apollon; Mayoral appointees Marjorie Dienstag, Amy Fair, Gregory Faulkner, Anita Garcia, Anthony Giordano, Dr. Angela Green, Alice Ho, Jessamyn Lee, Sharon Odwin, Alan Ong, Phoebe Sade-Arnold, Maisha Sapp, Manny Tavarez; CEC appointees Adriana Alecia, Naveed Hasan, Jessamyn Lee, Thomas C. Sheppard, Venus Sze-Tsang; Borough President Appointees Camille Casaretti (Brooklyn); Rima Izquierdo (Bronx); Marielle Aliz (Manhattan); Shirley Aubin (Queens); Aaron Bogad (Staten Island); and employee members John Maderich of the IUOE Local 891 and Donald Nesbit of District Council 37, Local 372.

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